A gas turbine engine generally includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section and an exhaust section. In operation, air enters an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section through a hot gas path defined within the turbine section and then exhausted from the turbine section via the exhaust section.
In particular configurations, the turbine section includes, in serial flow order, a high pressure (HP) turbine and a low pressure (LP) turbine. The HP turbine and the LP turbine each include various rotatable turbine components such as turbine rotor blades, rotor disks and retainers, and various stationary turbine components such as stator vanes or nozzles, turbine shrouds, and engine frames. The rotatable and stationary turbine components at least partially define the hot gas path through the turbine section. As the combustion gases flow through the hot gas path, thermal energy is transferred from the combustion gases to the rotatable and stationary turbine components.
During operation, environmental particulate accumulates on engine components. For example, internal cooling surfaces, particularly impingement cooled surfaces such as those of turbine shrouds are prone to the accumulation of environmental particulate, which can become a chemically reacted product. Such accumulation can lead to reduced cooling effectiveness of the components and/or corrosive reaction with the metals and/or coatings of the engine components. Thus, particulate build-up can lead to premature distress and/or reduced engine life.
Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to a gel detergent and method of using same that addresses the aforementioned issues. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to a gel detergent configured for in-situ cleaning of gas turbine engine components.